In conventional lipstick manufacture, fats and/or oils, together with pigments and/or lakes, and other non-aqueous ingredients, are usually added to a wax base which is melted to enable the ingredients to be thoroughly mixed and is then cast into moulds which, after cooling, provide lipsticks. In commercially available lipsticks, water is not usually incorporated into the lipstick formulation, and therefore, the lipstick when applied to the lips does not necessarily possess the smooth, soft attributes associated with other skin treatment products, such as skin creams, particularly those intended for moisturising the lips.
It is accordingly desirable to provide for some users a lipstick that has more of the moisturising attributes of skin products, such as those referred to above, than conventional water-free lipsticks.
It has been proposed in JP-A-61/83110 (Konuki) to incorporate water into a lipstick to achieve in use a fat/oil coating containing water on the lip surface, to provide, so it is stated, healthy, beautiful lips. Moreover, the product is said to have a soft and good feeling in use. To achieve this, dispersing agents such as cholesterol, phytosterol, phospholipids and/or saponins are employed. Also, anionic surfactants, cationic surfactants, nonionic surfactants or amphoteric surfactants may be used so that water or a solution of water-soluble substances in water can be more homogenously and stably dispersed in this type of product.
Our attempts to repeat the teaching of JP-A-61/83110 have resulted in lipsticks which, although possessing some moisturising capacity in view of the small amount of water present, still do not meet the requirements of the more discerning user, in that the products are too soft and/or do not glide easily over the lip surface during application and/or leave an imperfect film or undesirable after feel on the lip surface following application.
It is accordingly with the avoidance of these disadvantages, particularly with improving moisturisation of the lips and delivery thereto of skin care active ingredients, that this invention is concerned.